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North Central Mass. digging out; driving ban ends

Sentinel & Enterprise

Updated:
02/10/2013 10:04:37 AM EST

LEOMINSTER -- A state of emergency called by Gov. Deval Patrick on Friday remained in effect Saturday morning as residents of North Central Massachusetts dug out from 2 feet of snow left by Blizzard Nemo overnight.

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A travel ban was to remain in effect until 4 p.m. Saturday, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Fitchburg's parking ban remained in effect, and Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella said that city's parking ban had been extended to 6 p.m. Sunday to help DPW crews clear the roads.

Fitchburg police Sgt. Mark Jackson said it is the best option for the city because it's given plow drivers the best opportunity to get the job done.

"It's been awesome.

Trying to get the ice off their truck wipers while working for the DPW in Lunenburg on Saturday morning are Jason Reid Jr and Jason Reid Sr. who are private contractors from Leominster hired to help out the town. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/ JOHN LOVE)

As much as people are going to complain about the travel and parking bans, it's been extremely helpful," he said. "You have plow drivers really being able to get the job done now. The roads have been really empty."

He said the city has allowed residents who do not have access to parking at their homes and rely on street parking to use municipal lots to safely park their cars until the parking ban is lifted.

The parking ban is slated to remain in effect until Sunday at noon, he said, but the Public Works Department can lift it at any time if they deem it necessary.

Only eight cars have been towed since the storm began Friday, Jackson said Saturday morning.

Patrick will assess data at noon Saturday afternoon and decide whether to lift the travel ban.

Troy LeBlanc works on clearing his driveway on John Fitch Highway in Fitchburg early Saturday morning, as a nor'easter continued to dump snow on the region. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/ JOHN LOVE)

Unitil closed its regional emergency operation center at noon today.

Spokesman Alec O'Meara said crews will be standing by in case of any scattered outages, but as of noon the only outage in Massachusetts was one customer in Lunenburg, and it was restored in an hour.

"The snow remained dry light and fluffy. Even in large volumes, it doesn't stick," said O'Meara. He said it's a strong contrast to the October 2011 storm, which brought wet, sticky snow that pulled down a lot of trees.

Charlotte McCormack, spokeswoman for National Grid, said the storm didn't make much of an impact in Central and Western Massachusetts, but as of 12:30 p.m. there were 157,000 customers out in the North Shore area that the company is concentrating on.

The storm was still going strong on Saturday morning and many were out working hard to dig out of it. Heavy equipmnt was being used to plow the streets of Fitchburg like this one on John Fitch Highway. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/ JOHN LOVE)

Residents spent Saturday digging out -- and getting out after being cooped up during the storm.

Tommy Braman, 50, of Leominster was shoveling out a path to the Route 12 for his apartment building.

"I thought it'd be a lot heavier," he said. He remembers the Blizzard of '78 and helping shovel off tracks in Brookline for the MBTA.

Jennifer LeBlanc of Fitchburg was out walking her dog, an Irish terrier mix, Saturday afternoon.

"He had to be walked anyway, so I figured it was now or never," she said as he jumped through the snow, barked at other dogs walking by and eventually tripped his owner up.

"He loves the snow. I think he's just a little discombobulated right now," she said as she pulled herself up off of the road.

Out just for a coffee Saturday morning at the Cumberland Farms on Route 13 in Lunenburg is Paul Hobe, who said he would stay and watch movies. (SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/ JOHN LOVE)

Paul Hobe of Lunenburg ventured out in the weather Saturday afternoon to get coffee from Cumberland Farms on Route 13 in Lunenburg.

Hobe said he never lost power and could make coffee at his house, but said he wanted to get out and see the aftermath of the storm.

"This is nothing. I've been through hurricanes living in Florida for over 10 years so this type of stuff is nothing new to me," he said outside the store.

He said the roads from his house to the store were still "pretty bad," but he planned to go home and spend the rest of the day on the couch watching movies with his friends.

"I got up this morning and basically dug a path to my four-wheel drive and took off," he said.

Representatives from Cumberland Farms said they had been out of gas since Friday afternoon and had no idea when they might expect more. All they had on site was diesel.

Cumberland Farms across New England were offering free cups of coffee for all essential workers, include police and fire workers and plow drivers, through 5 a.m. Sunday morning.

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